Tired Doctors Make Mistakes, Says NARD

–Limits Call Hours to 24

In the wake of avoidable doctor deaths due to long shifts at work, the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has directed members nationwide to cap their shifts at 24 hours, effective October.

The President of the Association, Dr Mohammed Suleiman, said this new rule is part of NARD’s effort to reduce stress and prevent the growing problem of doctor burnout and mass movement of medical workers abroad.

“Doctors are not slaves,” Dr Suleiman said during a televised interview.  “Enough is enough. The workload is too much, the burnout is real, and the government has not matched our talks with real action. From 1 October, no doctor should take more than 24 hours of call duty at a stretch. Forcing anyone to do so is putting their life at risk.”

According to Dr Suleiman, Nigeria’s health system is dangerously short of doctors, with just over 8,000 resident doctors serving in federal hospitals, the ratio far too few for a population of over 240 million people.

“In the past 10 years, about 15,000 to 16,000 doctors have left Nigeria for better jobs abroad,” he explained. “It’s unsustainable. Some doctors now take 22, 25, or even 30 calls in a month. In one teaching hospital, a doctor is listed for 31 calls in October. That’s simply dangerous for both doctor and patient.”

He said the decision to limit work hours was agreed upon at NARD’s Annual General Meeting in Katsina, where doctors agreed they must start protecting their health and safety.

Dr Suleiman accused the Federal Government of failing to meet the basic welfare needs of doctors, saying several important payments have been delayed. Some of these needs and issues include: Non-payment of promotion arrears for doctors promoted in the last five years, Failure to implement the 2023 salary adjustment under the revised CONMESS scale, six months of unpaid allowances from 2024 and 2025, lack of payslips for house officers, raising fears that allowances have been withheld for years.

“These are serious injustices,” he said. “Doctors have families. We serve the nation every day but are treated like we don’t matter.”

To encourage prompt action, NARD has given the Federal Government 30 days, starting from 27 September, 2025, to address its demands. “At the end of the 30 days, we’ll meet and decide the next step,” Dr Suleiman said. “If nothing changes, we may have no choice but to shut down services.”

He also revealed that the association recently lost a young doctor who died after working three straight days on call duty. “He went to rest and never woke up. That’s how serious this has become. We cannot keep losing our members,” Suleiman said.

Dr Suleiman also dismissed reports that Nigerian doctors earn ₦2 million a year, saying it is “completely false.” “As a senior registrar, I don’t even earn ₦2 million yearly,” he said. “Meanwhile, doctors in the UK earn over ₦50 million, in the US about ₦90 million, and in Australia up to ₦120 million annually.”

He added that if the government improved salaries and welfare packages like housing, car loans, and health insurance, many Nigerian doctors abroad would happily return home, as they were not asking for ₦90 million, just a fair and realistic pay.

Dr Suleiman said the 24-hour call limit will not harm patients but rather improve the quality of care. “Tired doctors make mistakes. Nigerians should be treated by healthy, well-rested doctors rather than by those collapsing from exhaustion,” he said.

He ended by urging the government to act quickly and prevent another crisis in the health sector. “The choice is simple: improve welfare and working conditions or keep losing doctors and putting patients’ lives at risk,” he warned. “We are ready to talk, but the government must show real commitment.”